Seven Deadly Sins
by my blade of darkness
Summary: AU. Raven is living as a servant in a church. She is naturally gifted in forbidden arts and considers herself to different to be accepted. So what happens when she finds someone else like her? Parings later! T for Terra!
1. Chapter 1: Backround

Seven deadly sins

Disclaimer: don't own Teen Titans or the term Di Li, which I got from Avatar.

A/N: This is my first fan fic I've ever "published" and all reviews are encouraged. This is just a little back round, and Ill prob'ly have another one in a week. Way down the rode their may be some yuri, but you're safe for now, and Ill warn you when the time comes.

"I do what other people only dream of. I make art until someone dies"- jack niccleson, batman

Chapter 1: A little back round

In a time either long ago, or so far in the future that civilization crashed and had to start over, there was a city named Azarath. From the outside, it was beautiful to behold, and the people seemed happy. Inside the walls, however only those who held power were in any position to be happy. The others were slaves who were bred to work for the political officials and religious authorities. Their lives were expendable and their happiness almost unheard of. This is what Raven was born facing.

Raven's parents had been servants of the high priest, and as a result so was she. They were chosen by the Di Li based on their appearance, their strength, and their loyalty to the government in attempts to create a "higher," and therefore more attractive human race through selective "breeding". Her parents had all three in abundance. They had both died immediately following her birth and she was given to the Academe to be molded into the model "citizens" that her parents were.

Now Raven was 19 and in active duty in the Churches Palace. Despite the best attempts on the part of the Academe, she had never been as hard working or as dedicated as either of her parents, let alone the combination of the two, like the Di Li had hoped. What they hadn't realized, was that in most cases, for a child to be similar in personality to their parents, they had to be raised by their parents. That was why most of the servants coming from the academy were… less than model. She had been one of the most troublesome student the Academe had ever felt the need to work on. Any more disrespectful or disobedient and they would have given up entirely and just "sent her away", a term the Academe used when they sent a child to be killed by the Di Li, usually by way of military.

She had been lucky to serve _anyone_, but that didn't mean she was likely to be happy.

A/N: Yeah, I know, rather short isn't it. Anyways, its just the backround info and I promise that the next one will be longer.  



	2. Chapter 2: Sloth

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans

A/N: Alright, and now the story really begins. Review and I will read and review one of your stories. If you hate it, please tell me why, instead of "god, it just SUCKED..." Each of the chapters has a general theme of one of the deadly sins.

Chapter 2: Sloth 

Raven was lying on the wide gray bed she shared with three other people and staring at the ceiling. Outside, the rain was coming down in buckets and her master was calling her name. Eventually she would get up, but right now, it hurt to move. She mustered all of her remaining strength and rolled onto her side, ignoring the strands of purple hair that fell in her face. It had been two months sense she had moved from the Academe and she had been apathetic the entire time. Actually, she had been apathetic most of her life, but that was more of a facade than an actual emotion. Now she just couldn't care. She had never known her parents. She had heard stories and seen pictures, but her friends were really all she had. Or… had before.

"Raven! Get up! You heard the master!" The voice of the Task Master, one step above Raven, a-little-more-than-floated into the room. Raven still stayed, fast in her spot. Finally, the Task Master came stomping into the room, her hand hovering over the long, coiled whip in her belt. "Get out of bed immediately, or you aren't eating anything for the rest of the month!" _Crack!_ The whip broke against Raven's back. She moaned in pain and rolled onto the floor. Yesterday's tasks had been grueling, and she couldn't help but wonder if food was really worth it. She decided it wasn't.

"Fine. I'm not that hungry anyways." She mumbled. The Task Master simply grinned and walked out of the room. She was bred and trained to be cruel. Handing out punishments was the greatest part of her job. Raven figured she had 20 minutes of sleep until someone higher up came, and she was going to make the most of it.

XXXX

It was noon and half the day had already been wasted. Raven had managed to stay in bed for most of the morning, but then she had been literally dragged out of bed and sent to help dig the new well. She had marched in from the heat outside and had now been standing in line for half an hour and now finally she was at the front.

"I'm sorry Raven," her Task Master (who had lunch duties this week) told her in a sickly sweet voice, "but remember what I said earlier? About not eating? I meant it. Now get out of line."

Raven glared at her and left to go sit down in the corner farthest from the door. She was now definitely regretting her decision earlier. In attempts to forget her growling stomach, she turned her attention to the people in the crowded lunchroom. In the table closest to her sat a small group of three elderly people with their heads close together, deep in conversation. Every now and then one of them would lift their head and glance around, looking for "spies" who might try to ruin their plans.

On her other side was a small girl eating by herself, completely consumed in a book that she was reading intently. Argent. She shared the bed with Raven and a girl named Terra. She was nice enough, but not very social. 'Then again neither am I' she thought to herself.

Terra and her group of friends were sitting in the middle of the room and commanding most of the attention. Terra sat in the center with a boy named Garfield (Beast Boy is too much of a super hero name) and another boy and his girlfriend. 'Starfire and Robin, didn't Terra say?' Terra was possibly the most annoying girl on this side of the moon. She would come into the bedroom they shared and talk to anyone who would listen about her boyfriend and how wonderful her friends were and the incredible things they had done that day. She seemed to think that she was a rebel of some sort, but she never did anything she thought might get herself into trouble.

Raven sucked on her ring finger, just so she could have something in her mouth. The big, double doors to the big, open room flew wide open and a line of priestesses walked in, signifying that lunch was over. Each was dressed in the flowing purple robes they were required to wear to prayer and had a long black staff in their hand. They were easy to spot and stood out well against the gray-brow work clothes of the servants.

The line wove its way around the room and encircled the tired workers. The tallest priestess, a strict looking woman with a French accent named Mme Rouge, gave the command to pray. Every one on the room, including to priestess and the Task Masters, lined up in row of 20, kneeling on the floor.

"God Almighty," Mme Rouge began, "forgive us for our sins and bring us to everlasting life. Bring upon us your sword and we will kneel before you…" After half an hour, Ravens knees hurt badly against the hard floor. Quickly she glanced a her watch. She still had 20 minutes to go. "…we are grateful to stand in your presence and serve you. In life and in death, we are forever humble…" Raven looked at her watch again, more desperately this time. Only five minutes left. 'I don't think I can hold it much longer.' (have you ever tried kneeling for an hour?) Finally, she just gave up and sat down.

"…in sickness and in health-" Mme Rouge stopped short when she saw the young girl sitting. It was very disrespectful. "Jinx. Go talk to the one girl in the back. The one with the purple hair." She told her apprentice. Obediently, the pink haired girl stood up to go correct the servant. Mme Rouge began her sermon again, and the "audience" looked around, confused.

Raven stared at the priestess coming towards her with a cocky smile and swinging her hips. She glared in anticipation of the lecture sure to come her way. Jinx knelt beside her and whispered in her ear.

"You're knew here, so I'll explain it to you nice and easy. You didn't graduate from the Academe very quickly, so I'm assuming you just don't understand what's happening. We're praying, and if you don't kneel the entire time… well let me tell you, it won't be pretty." She whacked her staff against the floor to give Raven a feint idea of the fate that would befall her if she were to fail again. She found the priestess before her strangely intimidating, and yet intriguing. Raven smiled for the first time sense she had arrived, and although she was thinking quite un-godlike thoughts at the time, the smile looked sincere. Jinx glared in response and walked back across the room to her seat.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and that night while she laid in bed, Raven couldn't help but think that tomorrow was going to change things. Of coarse, she was right.

A/N: Yes, tomorrow she will get involved with the other titans. Hope you liked it


	3. Chapter 3: Pride

Disclaimer: Don't own Teen Titans or the term Di Li

A/N: Okay, I admit it. I'm indecicive. After finishing the second chapter, I wanted to have just Terra, Raven, and Argent in a bed. Then I went back, and it terns out she shares a bed with THREE people. sigh Also, "Garfield" sounds so unnatural, so now his friends call him "Beast Boy." Now you might think that theres yuri in this chapter, but continue to not worry, because I'm gonna have a separate chapter for that. It'll be called "lemon." Hope you enjoy! please review!

Chapter 3: Pride

Raven woke up at 4:00 in the morning. The sky outside was black, and there was no light in the room she shared with Argent, Terra and a 40-year-old blonde whose name she did not know. She was rarely in the room, and no one ever saw her when they worked. More than likely she would be "sent away" soon for not working with the rest of the servants. Very few people managed to die of natural causes in lower social classes, because eventually they all make a mistake that would cost them their life. As a result, there were twice as many people in their 20s and younger than all the other age groups combined.

Electricity was forbidden at the church, so Raven lit a candle and, trying not to wake Argent (the other lady was missing and she didn't care about Terra), she stood and walked to the dresser. She opened the top drawer and sifted through layers of work clothes, black dresses, yellow shirts, and her own blue capes and leotards until she found what she was hiding in the drawer. She pulled out a white book with a gem a lot like the one she had on her forehead in the center of the cover. She opened it carefully to the page she was looking for. "Azarath Metrion Zinthose…" she read aloud.

The door to her room came flying open and her Task Master stood in the door. Panicking, Raven snapped the book closed, sat on it and blew out the candle. Magic of any sort was explicitly forbidden in Azarath under penalty of death. Ordinarily, Raven wouldn't have been tempted, but she was naturally gifted. You really had to be or studying magic would be pointless, you would never amount to anything. Her friend at the Academe, Jericho, had introduced her to it and she had picked it up right away.

"Wake up, wake up!" the Task Master screeched, cracking her whip in the air.

Terra bolted out of bed, her eyes wide open. She woke up like this every day, and it amazed Raven every time. Argent groaned and rolled into her back, blinking at the darkness. Raven usually rolled onto the floor and made herself as uncomfortable as possible in order to prod herself awake, but this morning she sat on the cold, hard floor and stared expectantly at her Task Master.

"Shit, Master Mea Aye, why are we up so early?" Terra asked.

"Special group project. Get dressed and go to the instruction room. Robes." She strutted out of the room and closed the door.

"What do you suppose the project is?" Argent asked her British accent heavier than usual because of her exhaustion.

"Don't know, but I hope I have Robin and Star in my group."

"What about Garfield?" Raven asked, cocking one eyebrow.

"You mean Beast Boy? That goes without saying."

"They might put us in groups by room," Argent suggested.

"God I hope not!" Terra answered. The other two just stared at her. "Well you guys aren't as much fun…"

Raven pulled her dark gray robe over her head, tugging it drown past her knee. It went much farther than the dresses they were required to wear which only went halfway down her thigh. She left the other two and left for the instruction room.

XXXXX

The instruction room was a small white room with no windows. On the wall in the front of the room there were 10 chairs facing the door and a small chalkboard. There was one chair for each Task Master. Each of them had three rooms of four to look after, meaning 131 people in the tiny room. 120 servants, 10 Task Masters, and the person explaining what they would be doing. There were 3 other rooms like it in the building and each one operated independently.

Raven sat against the wall with the small number of people who had already arrived. Most of them were older, but in the center of the room Robin and Starfire were making out enthusiastically, and Beast Boy was trying to talk to them, secretly glad that he wasn't like that with Terra. Raven was laughing at the whole situation.

Eventually, all of the 130 people had crowded into the room, leaving little room for movement. They all sat wondering what they were doing that day when the door opened and young priestess walked in.

The crowd squirmed uncomfortably to let her through. The older servant and especially the older Task Masters glared at her, bitter about taking orders from an eighteen-year-old. The younger generation eyed her with envy. The hierarchy was determined at birth, and completely unchangeable. Once a servant always a servant. No one else in the room would ever have that kind of power.

Raven stared in slight disbelief and smiled. 'I would be a be a better priestess. She isn't very intimidating.' Jinx walked to the front of the room, took out a piece of chalk and began writhing on the board. She turned around and smirked.

"Hello, my name is Jinx. I am apprentice to Mme Rouge, one of the 4 top priestesses and will be giving you your instructions. Today, priests and priestesses from Tamaran are coming and you are to escort them and cater to their every whim. I have divided you into groups of 5 by age. Once you are in your group, come to me and I will give you a card with the information about your priest or priestess on it. When you get your card, you and your group will leave the room and wait for them in the formal dinning room." She said in a flat and important voice.

Raven knew that she didn't usually talk like that. It didn't sound natural coming from such a bubbly girl.

"Group one. Argent, Terra, Kole, Kitten… that's funny, all girls. I guess we are smarter." The better you were, the younger you graduated from the Academe.

Terra sulked to the front of the room, obviously thinking about what losers the people she was put with were. "Blackfire…" she read aloud. In the back of the room, Starfire's eyes grew wider but no one noticed.

"Next group. Garfield, Starfire, Robin-" the three of them jumped up, excited to be put in the same group, and ran to the front of the room. "-And Raven." The three looked around in confusion.

"Who is this Raven they speak of? Do we know her?" Starfire asked. Raven stood up from her spot against the wall and walked to the front of the classroom. She took the card from the pink haired girl and winked. Jinx smiled and slipped a piece of paper into Ravens robe pocket.

The night before, Jinx had sat in her bed and tried her best to focus on her hour of required praying but had found herself able only to think of the girl from the service. She had written her a note and begged Mme Rouge to let her give the speech about the Tamaranians in the morning. Of course, Raven didn't need to know about that, so she let her leave the room without telling her.

Beast Boy looked with wonder at the strange girl holding his assignment. She looked about 19, so she had probably been at the church for a while. Why hadn't he seen her then? Finally he decided to just ask.

"How ling have you been here? Why haven't I seen you before?" he asked, trying his best not to be rude.

"I got here 2 months ago. I could have come earlier, but I caused a lot of trouble at the Academe."

"Ha ha!" he laughed, "You don't look like the type cause trouble."

"Who's our assignment?" Robin asked. Raven stared at him for a second. Guessing by the company he kept, he didn't seem like the type who would be so serious and intense.

"The card says 'Stone'"

"That's a strange name…" Starfire mumbled

"Not as strange as Beast Boy!" Robin joked.

"Hey!"

Starfire just stared at them.

"Sorry"

"I meant for a Tamaranian priest."

"How would you know?" Raven asked, not bothering with politeness.

"I'm from Tamaran."

"Then why are you in Azarath?" Raven asked dryly. Starfire and Beast Boy exchanged glances and then burst out in fits of giggles. Raven stared at the three of them, wondering who's idea it was to put her with them.

"Alright. Lets get Stone."

XXXXX

Stone, or as he told them to address him, Cyborg was just as young as the for of them and, unfortunately for him, Beast Boy was enthralled by him. Amazingly, he handled all of the small green boys idiotic questions with surprising grace. "Dude! What's that shiny metal shit all over you?"

"They're all part of my wiring. I had an accident and this keeps me alive."

"But friend… this means it is computers?"

"Yeah, I thought computers weren't aloud."

"Electricity is forbidden, not technology, Robin. As long as he doesn't need to recharge his batteries, he should be fine."

"Actually, Raven, there's electricity in my system. They just had to make an exception. I can talk to god sometimes. I go into a trance and he tells me about things that are going to happen and things he wants us to do. That's part of why I need the electricity. I can record the visions so I don't forget."

"Wow. Can you show me something cool? I've never seen anything electrical before!" Beast Boy asked eagerly, completely ingnoring the reason that Cyborg was there at all "Oh! Can you show me… how to fly? You can fly like that, right? Because that's what Terra said and…"

"I'm electric, not magic. I can't fly any more than you can."

"Dude! Come on!"

"You still think he can fly, don't you." Raven asked with the dry sarcasm she was already known for amongst the company she now kept.

"Well he might be holding out on me…" Raven cocked an eyebrow. For the first time sense she arrived, she felt proud. These people actually liked her. 'Wow. Three firsts in two days.

XXXXX

The four young servants and the slightly older priest arrived back in the large formal dining room for lunch, late but earlier than Terra. Everyone lined up in the now shortening line to get their food. Raven lingered near her "new friend," and finally left to go sit down.

"What are you doing?? This is the best food they've ever served here!" Beast Boy smiled at the purple haired girl next to him.

"I can't. They wont serve me food for a month."

"Surely, new friend, you are not serious!" Starfire half-stated, joining the others at the table.

"Unfortunately, I am. It's a punishment for not getting up on time."

"Man, what time did you finally get out of bed?" Cyborg asked while shoving food into his mouth. "Because we just need to be awake in time for noon prayer." Although he had been rather uncomfortable around them, Cyborg made an effort to be friendly. He wanted to get closer to "the dark one," which is what he thought when he met Raven. Most Tamaranians knew about magic, although they could not perform it. Cyborg had been so sheltered through out his life that he had never heard the stories. He could sense it though, because of his overall heightened awareness. He had been feeling it all over the palace, in fact. All he knew about it was that Raven was the key.

Raven stared at him for a second before answering. "6:00."

"Ohh…"

"Hey, Raven, if you want some of my food…" Beast Boy offered, blushing, "because I don't want all of it…"

"I don't need your food. I'm just fine."

"Hey, while I'm here, why don't we have some sort of… name for our group." Cyborg offered as penance for the awkwardness that he had just created. Starfire nearly jumped put of her seat.

"I have a most wondrous name for us! The Titans!"

"Great idea Star!" Robin said as he leaned forward to kiss her. Suddenly Terra's head popped up between them, followed moments later by the rest of her body, making Robin and Starfire both jump.

"Hey guys! What's up? Sorry I'm late, but my priestess is a total cunt. 'Blackfire' whatever kind of name that is. Blech! It took me forever to ditch her!" Cyborg glared at the small blond girl, who took no notice.

"Blackfire is my sister." Starfire's voice was suddenly and unusually cold, making Ravens skin crawl. "She and I are on longer 'friends,' but she is still my sister, and I sill not have you talking of her like that."

"God Star, I didn't know. Sorry…"

Cyborg flinched. He had never spent much time with Terra and were not used to the rough language she used. (A/N: they work for a church, remember? Can't take gods name in vain.)

"Starfire, Blackfire… Don't tell me you didn't notice the similarly. I've only known her for one day and I got it."

"Who invited you over here anyways Raven?" Terra snapped, starting to her temper. She had been having a very difficult day, and this was just enough to push her to the edge. "These aren't your friends. Just because you are in the same group, doesn't mean they want you fallowing them around. Why don't you just go away!"

"Whoa, Terra calm down! I invited her. She's really nice once you get to know her…" "I knew her before any of you, so I would know better than you would!"

"Well, we did spend all day with her…" Robin offered.

"Well I have to spend every day with her." Terra yelled, convinced that everyone misinterpreting her.

"Actually, I avoid you as much as possible."

Terra screamed in frustration and threw her plate on to the table, splattering mashed potatoes and gravy onto everyone present.

"Terra, I think its time for you to leave. Please sit somewhere else" Starfire said coolly, still mad about what she had said about her sister.

"Fine! I don't need you all. I have other friend who ate better than all of you combined!" Terra lied and as she turned to walk away, trying to hide her hurt. If she hadn't had so much pride, she could have apologized, but amongst the people Terra –and now Raven- had befriended humility was a rare commodity. 'These are really dramatic people…' Raven thought to herself, wondering again why she was still sitting with them.

Suddenly, the door burst open and in walked the line of priestesses, who were shortly joined by the Tamaranians. Luckily, the formal dining room was much better than the one Raven was used to, so there was plenty of room for everyone. Even luckier for Terra was the fact that now she wouldn't have to pretend she had other friends.

As the occupants of the room came into neat rows and columns, Raven looked around at the groups of spineless, shameless individuals cowering before the infinitely strict Mme Rouge while pretending to be honoring their God. None of the brown robed servant had any reason to believe in God. Their lives were pointless to the extent that almost half of the casualties were suicides. The Di Li didn't care anymore than they cared about the lives of goats and sheep. 'If there is a God,' Raven mused 'he certainly isn't here.'

"We are humble before you…" Mme Rouge nearly shouted, more concerned about impressing the visitors than the lord she was praying to. Raven laughed quietly to herself. If anything, she was equal to this God of theirs. She barely cared for anyone, but at least she treated them all equally. 'I can perform miracles He can only dream of!'

To prove her point to herself, she concentrated on the back of Mme Rouges robes, carefully lifting them up to reveal her modest underwear to the Tamaranians behind her. They all laughed, hiding their faces behind their hands, unaware of the ban on magic amongst the people of Azarath. No one had ever bothered with such a rule in Tamaran because no one there was capable to break it, but as children most of them had heard stories of magic in other cities.

Finally the service had ended, and the servants were free to return to their quarters. The Tamaranians had business with the Priests.

XXXXX

Raven sat on her bed, now back in her blue cape and leotard, staring at a note she had found in her pocket. "level 3, room 74 midnight. Come alone." It was simple enough, but Raven was still confused. When had someone gotten close enough to her to give her a note without her knowledge?

She had never been to the third level before, in fact she had never left the first. Everyone she could think of lived on the first level with her, because everyone she knew was a servant or a Task Master. The more important you were, the higher level you lived in. Even most of the priests and priestesses were only on the second level. The only level higher than the third housed the High Priest and his most trusted assistants.

Also, why would anyone so high up ask her to come after the curfew? The only person she could think of was Cyborg, and he hadn't really seemed comfortable around her, or anyone for that matter. Still, he was an oracle, and so he was defiantly important enough to be staying there…

Terra sobbed in her corner, breaking Ravens concentration yet again.

"Shut up!" Raven yelled and went on staring at the note.

XXXXX

Raven stood outside room 74, and taking a deep breath, turned the pushed the door open. She stood for a second to get used to the light emanating from the numerous candles and sat down in the center of the room. "Raven?" A voice from the other room asked. To Ravens surprise, it was a girls voice instead of Cyborg's. She turned around and saw Jinx walking out of the modest sized kitchen attached to her room.

"Hello?"

"You're prob'ly wondering why you're here, right?"

"Right…"

"Well, the other day, when I was telling you about not sitting and all that, I noticed the gem on your forehead." She paused and watched Raven for a second. "I know what it's for." Raven looked momentarily terrified, before controlling herself again.

"It doesn't mean anything. It was a gift from a friend." It really was a gift from a friend. Jericho had given it to her.

"If you really believe that, your 'friend' could get into a lot of trouble. Those gems help to concentrate and control charka. Its used for magic." Raven pretended to look shocked. "Don't worry. Most people don't know that. Those of us who do, aren't going to make trouble for you." Jinx turned around and sent a small wave of pink energy at Raven, cutting of the ends of her hair.

"So you…" Raven paused.

"So I what?"

"You invited me here to… what?"

"To practice! Show me what you got." Raven looked at her skeptically and turned her attention to one of the candles closest to her, which was emitting a purple glow I the windowless room. She surrounded it with a black energy field and slammed it against the wall. Then she created a black platform which she stepped onto and floated herself over to Jinx.

"Very impressive!" Jinx commented, smirking.

"I always assumed that I was the only on here… or at least the only one here I would meet…" At this Jinx laughed extensively at this, and after a couple of minutes finally found the breath to talk.

"There is practically a society of people doing magic around here! We trade books and spells, even though each has his own special… type of magic-"

"Sort of like a finger print?"

"Kind of. And every now and then we get together and do group spells. You would be surprised how many people here are magic. For example, you share a bed with Argent, right?"

"She's…"

"Of course. Mad Mod and Brother Blood-"

"The priest?" Jinx nodded.

"and Malchior, to name a few."

"Wow… how come none of the others never noticed?

"They don't know what to look for. Anyways, that's not what you're here for. Let me show you some tricks…"

XXXXX

Jinx transported herself into Ravens room, a spell she had learned that night, and set the sleeping girl down on her bed. She had passed out around 3, so she only had an hour to sleep.

Jinx was an incredibly lonely soul. Ever sense Kid Flash had died four years ago, Jinx hadn't been able to let anyone close, always telling herself to wait for someone really special before getting attached to them. Jinx smiled down at Raven, wondering if she had finally her someone.

XXXXX

A/N: Alright! That was my favorite chapter so far for sure! That isn't really that hard though, because nothing really happened in the last one. And yes, this is going to be mostly Raven/Jinx, mostly because its less cheesy than heterosexual parings. More dramatic, you'll see why later!


	4. Chapter 4: Avarice

A/N: Sorry about the long time between chapters, I got kinda caught up with a different project. Hope you like it anyways.

Disclaimer: Don't own, never will.

Chapter 4: Avarice

The newly named "Titans" trudged up the long staircase, each carrying a very large and heavy plate of food. The smell was intoxicating, and none of them had eaten yet. As a result, there was lots of complaining from the greener part of the company.

"Gaah! Why couldn't they give us breakfast first?" Beast Boy whined loudly, "Dude, I'm so hungry I could eat a house!"

"Well, in that case, why don't you take a nice piece of wall? It looks pretty good to me" Raven joked lamely to hide her own stomach's growling.

"Please, how many floors do we have left? My legs are beginning to feel the painful."

"Only one more…"

The team had been awoken an hour later than usual and the only task that morning had been to bring food to the their priest, and unfortunately for Raven, Cyborg did not live on the third floor, like she had predicted, but on the forth. The palace had extraordinarily high ceilings, in order to "reach towards the heavens and give more room for God," which also meant longer stairs. Even though they only had to go four floors, the Titans had already gone over hundreds of individual steps. Luckily, Cyborg didn't have to get up early, and they were given several hours to climb up.

"I wonder what the fourth floor is like…" Beast Boy mused, more to himself than to anyone else, which was good considering no one answered him. He tended to talk to himself a lot, especially when he was uncomfortable, like when he was hungry or scared. It helped keep his mind off things. Everyone else just found it annoying.

Raven found herself tempted to levitate and save her aching feet, and after a lot of contemplating the consequences of doing so, she decided it was worth it, as long as she was cautious. She carefully lifted herself inches from the ground so her toes skimmed the lush carpet and forced her legs to continue their walking like motion. It still hurt her legs, but at least her feet didn't burn anymore. She had only gone a few feet when she found herself standing before the door to Cyborg's room. 'Of course…'

The door reached all the way to the ceiling and was wide enough to carry Ravens entire room through, with some space still left over. It was painted gold with red lettering across the top reading "_Cyborg"_ in fancy letters. The team stood outside the door for what seemed like hours, none of them able to find the initiative to try to open the door. Finally, Robin stepped towards the door. "We'd better get this food inside before it goes cold…" He muttered as he pushed against the door.

"Dude, we've been walking up those stairs for hours. I think the food is already cold."

Robin had yet to make the door budge, so he put his shoulder to the door and pushed harder, now aided by Beast Boy. After a few minutes of grunting and pushing, the door had yet to open a crack, and the boys were to tired to try any more.

"You could have just knocked." Raven suggested.

"But what if we disturb the priest?" Starfire asked.

"Its almost noon. I think he's up by now."

"All the same, it would be best not to chance it." Starfire walked up to the door holding her platter of food up in the air to get it over the two boys laying on the ground and pushed the door open with her free hand. She turned around and smiled sheepishly. "Tamaranian strength." She explained shortly.

"That would have been helpful about fifteen minuets ago! Why didn't you open the door then!?" Beast Boy asked incredulously while Robin stared in awe at his girlfriend.

"I did not want to rob you of your victory…"

Beast Boy opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by Cyborg, who had actually been up for a quite a while, and been getting rather hungry.

"You brought me waffles? I love waffles!" He explained with his mouth already stuffed with food. Maple syrup was dripping out the sides of his mouth and powder sugar covered most of his face. The other people in the room looked on with envy as he shoveled more and more food down his thought.

"We haven't eaten yet, so do you mind if we… help you with that?" Beast Boy asked timidly, with a slice of pizza already in his hand.

"Sure! Dig in!"

At that, the hungry servants dove in to the food before them (quite literally in Starfire's case) and began stuffing their faces. Raven stood and watched them all with an uncomfortable mixture of disgust and hunger. As much as she wanted to feast along with them, she knew that if she were to avoid her punishment, she would have to face the Di Li, and they would do much worse things than just take away her food.

'If I stay here and watch them, there is no way I'll be able to control myself.' Raven left the room through the still open door, and sat down against the wall.

"Man, this sausage is delicious!" She could still hear them. Quietly, she closed the door with her powers, the others to busy to notice. Closing her eyes, she folded her legs under her and began to meditate.

XXXXX

Terra had never intended to stay with her "team mates" for long. Yesterday she had been forced to spend the entire day with them and that horrid Blackfire, and it had driven her to yell at her friends and get them mad at her. Today she was not willing to let that happen again. As quietly as she possibly could, Terra slipped out of Blackfire's spacious third floor living room and began trudging up the stairs to the uppermost floor in the building.

When she finally reached the top floor she started running for the door across the hallway to the door at the very end of it, much to tired to notice anything except her objective. After all, she didn't have much time left.

XXXXX

Raven stared at the wall intently. It was pure white, and the more she stared at it, the clearer she could think, and at that particular moment she was thinking about Brother Blood. He was a high enough priest to be able to get at books she could only dream of. Books that had been forbidden by the Di Li and more than likely to have of spells indefinitely more powerful than the ones she knew. 'He lives on the third floor…"

Just as Raven was about to get up and talk to said priest, she looked over to the other end of the corridor. Running slowly towards her was Terra, looking rather exhausted.

"Terra, what are you doing?" Raven started, but Terra took no notice and ran right past her to the door of the High Priest.

'What on earth is she doing?' Raven wondered as she got up and walked towards the blonde girl, who was how standing eagerly in front of the large door, inserting an access code into a panel on the door.

'Electricity?' Raven wondered as she sped up, trying to reach Terra before she got herself into too much trouble. The door opened and Terra walked inside, instantly greeted by the priest.

Raven watched from behind a pillar as Terra skipped farther into the lavish room and the door closed behind her. "What just happened here?" Raven asked herself out loud. 'Terra knows the High Priest? How….'

"Friend Raven, we have eaten all the food and you have had none. Are you quite sure you are not hungry? If necessary, I can give you some of the food I already ate…"

"No thanks Starfire," Raven replied, remembering her hunger, "but if your all finished I'll come back in."

XXXXX

"…And this is my bathroom!" Cyborg told the mostly eager onlookers who he had been giving a tour to.

"Is this gold?" Beast boy asked in awe, drawing his fingers across the toilet seat.

"Yep." Cyborg answered warmly. He desperately wanted to pull his fingers away from his toilet and scream some sense into the spacey boy, but he knew that he would have to gain their trust before he could find out what was going on in this place. He had felt that strange feeling emanating from the floor beneath his bed last night and they had kept him awake for hours. (That was actually Brother Blood practicing, but Cyborg didn't know that.)

"This is incredible…" Robin whispered as Starfire giggled. They all stared at the expansive golden bathroom, unable to help them selves as they touched everything around them with greedy fingers. The only one who was unimpressed was, of course, Raven, who was to preoccupied to notice.

'If only I could get out of here and catch Terra on her way out of the High Priests room…." Raven stared at the extremely high ceiling when she had an idea. She staggered a bit and knelt down on the floor.

"Friend Raven, are you feeling alright?"

"I should be fine. I just need to go sit down outside."

"You can sit down in here, if you want. I can get you a stool to sit on, instead of the floor."

"No, it would be better if I went outside. I am claustrophobic, and there aren't as many people outside…"

XXXXX

Terra waved good bye to the priest and pushed the button to open the door. Walking backwards so she could still see the door, she reflected on the events that had just taken place. 'Certainly better than catering to that stuck-up Tamaranian priestess all day….'

She turned around and walked right into Raven. "Oh shit…"

"What's wrong?" Raven asked mockingly, "Afraid I saw you doing something wrong?"

Terra frowned. "What do you want, Raven." It wasn't really a question, Terra already thought she knew what the purple-haired girl wanted. Of course, she was wrong.

"I want a key." (All the doors were supposed to have keys, but the High Priest had made an exception for himself.)

Terra looked at her for a second, trying to understand what she was asking for. "A key to what?"

"Brother Blood's room."

Terra smiled. She hadn't pictured Raven as the same type as herself, but she couldn't say anything without being a hypocrite. Terra was wrong again about Raven's intentions, but Raven hadn't bothered to explain what she was planning to do, so Terra had no reason to think otherwise.

"Alright."

"Have it for me tonight. I'll wait for you in our room."

Terra just laughed and walked away.

XXXXX

Argent rolled over in her sleep, mumbling something about diamonds and causing Raven to scoot closer to the end of the bed. It was already several hours past midnight, and Terra was still not back yet. 'She better be dead,' Raven mused cynically, 'because if she's just standing me up…." Bloody images rushed into Raven's head as she thought of what she would do to Terra the next day if she didn't show up soon. Smiling, Raven pictured Terra falling out of the window, Terra being thrown over the churches wall, Terra getting too mad and blowing herself up by mistake…

Just as the images in Ravens head started to get sickeningly gleeful, Terra's blonde head popped in the door, spitting out excuses for her lateness, finally setting on "He wouldn't give it to me until I did some… things for him."

When Terra had finished rambling, she stood there staring at Raven in silence for several minuets before wordlessly giving her the key and climbing into bed.

XXXXX

It wasn't until Raven was standing in the door way of Brother Blood's room that she realized she had no way to convince him to give her the books she needed.

"Uhh…." The tall man looked down at her as she struggled to even explain what she was doing at his doorway, not to mention the fact that it was way past curfew.

Brother Blood wanted to shut the door in her face, and he wanted to take her to someone who could punish her for disturbing him so late at night. He wanted to take her to the Di Li. But for some reason just beyond his reach, he was unable to do any of those things. He felt that he needed to help her with whatever she needed to do.

Brother Blood was by no means evil, but he was harsh. He was bred to be. It was quite unnaturally for him to have any kind of desire to help people. Not since….

The pupils in the priest's eyes shrank rapidly as he realized who she must have been.

"Come in…" He whispered breathlessly. Raven relaxed a bit.

"Thanks"

XXXXX

The room was almost identical to Jinx's, the only exception being that every wall was covered ceiling to floor with bookcases, each stuffed so full that the newer books had to be stacked on the floor.

"Guess I picked right…."

"Hm?"

"Oh, nothing."

Raven stared breathlessly at the many books lined up on front of her. She ran her long fingers gently over there hard spines.

"Do you want to read some?"

Raven pulled one out and looked at it. 'Avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins, Saving Your Soul from Eternal Damnation'

'Long title' she mused, putting it back in its place.

"No, none of these. I was hoping you could lend me a… different type of book." She answered, levitating to look at the higher books. Raven wasn't stupid. She knew that showing off could have major repercussions if she wasn't careful. For some reason though, she felt that she could trust him. With this, at least.

"…oh. Follow me." He led her to the farthest corner of the room. "The ones in the middle are the safer spells, and the ones at the top are… dangerous."

Raven smiled warmly. "Thank you." She levitated strait to the very highest shelf and started picking through the various books.

'She looks just like her, its almost unbearable. If I had known earlier, that she was living in this section…' Brother Blood stared intently at the floor, trying to numb his thoughts.

"Can I borrow this one?" She asked, holding a yellowing book with several pages sticking out.

"Sure." He was to distracted to pay much attention. He stared at her hair (making her quite uncomfortable) and twirled his finger around one of the strands. "You look just like your mother…" He mumbled.

This was not what Raven had been expecting. She jerked away from him, eyeing the tall man suspiciously. "What do you know about Arella?" She asked quietly.

"Arella…" He seemed to be stuck in dream. "She was my best and only friend. More than that, really. Until…"

"Until what?"

"Until she got chosen. To have you. And I never saw her again…" He snapped out of his memories. "She was talented. I guess you got that from her. She would be pleased."

"My mother was…"

"Yes. And before she left, with the Di Li, she gave me this." He held out a golden chain with a circular red stone in the middle.

"…that's good…."

"I don't want to, but I have to give it to you." Raven stared at him blankly, taking the locket. "It was her dying wish."

"Thank you." Raven put on the necklace. "If you knew my mother, you must have known my father too…"

Brother Blood shivered. "I try to avoid thinking about him. Didn't deserve her. Talk to 'Elastigirl' or what ever they call her. She's a servant like you."

"Thank you. I'll being the book back tomorrow night"

"You can keep the book. I don't want to re-live any of those times, not anymore. If you need more, just don't come when I'm here." And with that, Brother Blood shoved her out the door and closed it behind him.

Raven didn't know it, of course, but the farther into her past she looked, the more dangerous things would become. The one thing that the church, the Di Li, and the monarchy valued more than loyalty was secrecy, and Raven was stumbling into one of the best kept ones of their time.

XXXXX

This didn't originally have a very good ending, so I made one up a few minuites ago. Next chapter won't take as long, promise.


End file.
